PUNXSUTAWNEY, Penn. — The spotlight was on Punxsutawney Phil in western Pennsylvania as we would see if there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring. For the 138th annual celebration, Phil has predicted that things will warm up and forecasted an early spring.
Early Friday morning, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced Phil did not see his shadow, which will usher in early springlike weather.
Groundhog Day is a rooted tradition in European agricultural life, marking the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
During the celebration in Pennsylvania, people from all over come to see Phil emerge from hibernation. But this isn’t the only part of Groundhog Day, there is a day full of celebrations celebrating the history of the tradition, independent from Phil.
This year as Phil arose from hibernation he did not see his shadow. Prior to 2024, the last time an early spring was predicted was in 2020 and this marks the 21st time it’s been recorded since 1887.
Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t make these predictions alone, there are other groundhogs that you may not have heard of. There’s also Buckeye Chuck in Ohio, General Beauregard Lee in Georgia and Staten Island Chuck in New York, who also emerged from burrows Friday morning.
Now, how accurate is Phil and is this a prediction that we can trust? Based on Phil’s predictions from 1887 – 2023, he is about 39% accurate according to Stormfax Almanac’s. This is really similar to a flip of a coin, so this may not be a prediction that you run with.
Groundhog Day is more than seeing if we endure six more weeks of cold, it is a day for the community to get together and celebrate a long lived tradition.
Now according to senior meteorologists at AccuWeather, they say that this year, meteorological spring is on March 1 and the spring equinox happens on March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere.
Now even with an early spring, they predict that there will be waves of cold air and opportunities for snowstorms and severe weather outbreaks.
I guess we will have to wait and see if Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is right and I bet that many people around the country are hoping that they don’t have to endure another six weeks of winter.
